Lucky Number Seven
by Digitalis02
Summary: Playing cards had never been so much fun... Written for the Teslen Monthly Challenge.


Disclaimer: Owning nuffin'.

A/N: Teslen March challenge: Lucky! Helen and Nikola are in an established relationship, I guess that makes this AU ::weeps:: But I can hope! :) This could also be a semi-crack fic too, I guess. Anyway, please enjoy, thanx for reading, and thanx for any reviews!

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Lucky Number Seven

Helen's eyes danced teasingly up at him and Nikola's smirk faded into a low groan as her fingers fluttered over his skin. Those slender, lovely fingers popped the buttons of his dress shirt open, one by one. "Aren't you glad we decided to play this game?" Helen's voice held a smile. She butterfly-kissed his bare chest, pulling the shirt away.

"You're going to happily kill me." Shifting restlessly, Nikola pulled her closer from where they lay together on the bed. "I love this game," he breathed and toyed with the buttons on her silk blouse before undoing one.

The action immediately had Helen slapping his hand away and sitting up, ignoring his protest with a saucy smile. "You're going to have to earn it, Nikola. Like I did. Shirt off, please."

When his pleading eyes didn't work, Nikola grumbled disappointingly and shucked off his shirt, folding it to join his already discarded vest and socks. "I hate this game."

Her laugh was infectious. Light, tinkling, they caused her eyes to sparkle in a way that made Nikola's heart flip-flop. Helen gathered the cards spread and absently began shuffling, distracted by a half-naked Nikola. Her two pair had trounced his single. The smirk on her face made him want to grin. In the year he had been living in the Old City Sanctuary, Nikola was utterly delighted to see some of his devil-may-care attitude rub off on Helen.

"You only have yourself to blame for being an atrocious poker player, Nikola, really." Helen dealt the cards. Her eyes flicked to his pants. "And you're rapidly running out of clothes."

A three of clubs. King of clubs. Ten of hearts. Seven of spades. Ace of diamonds. Nothing. And Nikola eyed Helen's fully-dressed form, sans jacket, with frustration. For one full year, Nikola had been been intimately acquainted with those barely-hinted curves and knowing that made it all the more harder to stomach that he was losing in this game. He idly wondered if Helen had stacked the deck.

It was July 10th and this was some birthday present from the woman he loved. Nikola had barricaded himself in a lab established as his own in the Sanctuary and Helen had threatened to have her beast of a butler break down the doors if he didn't come eat lunch with her.

The birthday cake he had suffered through, though the sight of Helen teasing him by suggestively eating her piece of chocolate cake had conjured up some creative images in his mind. And her presents he hadn't minded either, but the fact that Helen wouldn't let him return to work demanded he do something else for the day. The opportunist in him suggested they retreat, post-haste, to the bedroom, where Helen promptly nixed his idea of tying her up, but had saucily agreed to a game of strip poker.

A minute and three cards exchanges later, in which Nikola looked irritated at his paltry single pair and Helen victoriously showcased a flush.

"Looks like you lose again, Nikola." Helen beamed a wide smile at him and her eyes flicked to his pants. Her smile grew impish. "Take it off, Mr. Tesla."

Nikola blew out a defeated puff of air, standing up. He flicked the top snap of his pants, eying Helen's extremely focused stare. He cocked his head sexily. "Are you not going to help me with this, Helen?"

Helen bit her lip, knowing that if she did go over there, Nikola would surely cause her to forget the game. His eyes were burning with mischief as he taunted her by playing with the top button to his pants. This man was more dangerous than any abnormal Helen had ever met. But why forgo the satisfaction of winning? Helen's eyes were alight with their own mischief as she merely smiled at him, knowing it irked him like nothing else to know that he was losing. "For shame, Nikola, as a self-proclaimed genius, I would have thought you knew how to take off your own pants," her smile grew evil, "as for me, I'm quite happy sitting here, enjoying the show."

Letting out a growl that made Helen almost believe Nikola hadn't lost his vampiric traits, he sourly undid his pants, folding them up and bemoaning his ill luck. On his birthday! Helen was still more or less covered; it really was unfair! Weren't their positions supposed to be reversed? Hadn't his mind pictured her stripping and he lustfully enjoying the show?

His pants joined his shirt, vest, and socks. A pure masculine smirk curved his lips at Helen's appreciative look over his toned body, bare save for his last piece of clothing. It grew as her blush did. She shifted uncomfortably.

"You know, this really is quite unfair, Helen." Nikola leaned back against the headboard and stretched in a move that had Helen goofing up her shuffle. "This game's not fun if only one of us continues to lose deliberately."

She arched an eyebrow and teased, "Oh, is that what you've been doing? Deliberately losing?" It was clear from her tone how likely she believed that.

Nikola suddenly dived at her, scattering the deck of cards and pressing her body flat against the bed with the weight of his on top. Helen let out a surprised laugh, but her eyes were shining brightly.

"I thought the whole point of this game was to get you naked. Hence why I suggested it." Nikola gave a look of mock-disappointment. "It's my birthday and you're not playing along."

Helen sniffed, but her eyes sparkled. "I'm playing and winning fair and square, Nikola. I guess I'm just better at getting you to take your clothes off, who knew?" She laughed as his fingers dug into her stomach, tickling her. He loved the look of pure happiness on her face.

"What say we end this, hmm?" Nikola dipped his head to kiss her and then looked at her, eyes glinting deviously. "This last hand, if you win, I am at your mercy for the rest of this wretched day. But if I win, you lose everything," his gaze swept so possessively over her that she shivered, "and you are at my mercy until midnight strikes. What do you say?" He nosed his way under her hair and nipped at her neck, causing Helen's breath to hitch.

The warmth and solid, hard planes of his body drove her to distraction. His hands roved possessively, a firm sweep over her curves had Helen squirming. Nikola's lips found hers, kissing her with an almost hungry intensity and Helen reciprocated, opening her mouth under his and curving her arms around his bare back, fingers fluttering over his skin that had Nikola pressing her harder into the mattress.

Their lips released with a heavy gasp for breath. "Deal?" Nikola had to get off Helen soon, or playing cards would be the last thing on his mind; already his hands twitched to start undressing her himself.

Helen looked momentarily dazed before her eyes cleared and she grinned mischievously, a near replica of his own. "I look forward to you losing, Nikola." Her fingers dipped to run a teasing line just beneath his boxers.

Nikola narrowed his eyes wickedly and licked his lips. "When I win, Helen, I intend to keep you in this bed. I hope you have plenty of energy and no pressing matters to attend to," he threatened silkily before pushing off her and flopping back against the pillows.

The air was charged and the playful atmosphere morphed into passion-filled tension. Helen dealt swiftly.

A seven of diamonds. King of spades. Four of clubs. Nine of spades. Three of hearts.

Their faces betrayed nothing as they went through the rounds of discarding some cards and picking up others. Tiny shivers of anticipation purred along their skin when the final round ended.

"Full house, three aces," Helen couldn't help her smug voice, displaying her hand triumphantly. Her mind immediately dolled out a list of things she wanted Nikola to do. A massage would start off nicely, after those pesky boxers had been discarded, of course.

She grinned.

It immediately died as she noticed Nikola's gleaming eyes lit with unholy glee. Compared to hers, his grin was madly manic. And Helen had a sinking feeling. He could be bluffing, her mind optimistically insisted. That hopeful voice shrunk as she watched Nikola let out an impish chuckle.

Helen eyed her lover and friend suspiciously with narrowed eyes. "Nikola?"

His manic grin morphed into a libidinous, sexy smile.

Slowly, Nikola predatorily approached her, revealing one card in his hand. A seven of hearts. Helen swallowed as Nikola entered her personal space with that sinful smirk. His warmth and husky all-male scent fogged up her mind. His fingers flipped over another card, revealing a seven of diamonds.

She allowed herself to be pushed gently to lie down on the bed, her breath speeding up at Nikola's slow and steady approach. A seven of clubs was a flash in her sight before Nikola lowered his lips to lick her pulse point and his fingers began flicking open the buttons on her blouse.

Helen started to protest when Nikola showed her the seven of spades. Her eyes widened in shock and surprise. Four of a kind, all sevens, with the king of spades himself as a spare. The unholy glee in Nikola's eyes darkened with the more buttons he freed. He was completely tickled at the dumbfounded look crossing Helen's face. There were very few moments in his life that he had felt this elated. Probably the last time was when he wrote 'village idiot' in all of John's textbooks at Oxford, knowing the tall man had had to use those books for the rest of the year.

"It looks like I win, Helen," Nikola drawled triumphantly, dipping his hand into her shirt and caressing her skin, causing her breath to hitch. "You lose it all, and until midnight strikes, you are all mine." His voice made his words sound like a low threat and a promise at the same time and Helen shivered, trapped in his eyes.

Nikola pulled her shirt away. "Mmm, what a lovely birthday present to unwrap." That infuriating, thrilling smirk of his widened, creating shivers and laughter as Nikola 'unwrapped his present', all the while singing quietly, "Happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me, happy birthday to..."

***

Afterward, bare and snuggled together under the blankets, Helen sleepily watched the clock tick and signal the midnight hour. Nikola planted lazy kisses on her shoulder, while a hand lovingly stroked her hip. "It's midnight."

Pushing her onto her back, Nikola propped himself onto an elbow, leaning into her. "Do you really want me to stop?" he queried, shifting so he wouldn't crush her and so that their bodies brushed tantalizingly. Nikola kissed her slowly, coaxing her mouth open.

Helen made a moaned protest in response to his husky inquiry and her arms wound around his neck to pull him closer. His skillful fingers dancing upon her skin.

A smirk lifted the corner of Nikola's lips. He didn't think so.

Bless those lucky number sevens.


End file.
